In a major turn of events, Elon Musk has shared his revised timeline for sending humans to Mars.
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), he stated that the company plans to launch about five uncrewed Starship rockets to Mars in 2026.
If these missions succeed, crewed missions could follow two to four years later.
Musk has a history of ambitious timelines for Mars exploration. In 2016, he claimed that manned missions could begin as early as 2022 during a speech in Mexico.
However, unlike back then, SpaceX now regularly transports astronauts and cargo to orbit and has successfully tested the Starship, the large rocket intended for Mars travel.
Meanwhile, timing is one of the biggest challenges for any mission to Mars.
Space agencies coordinate their launches when Mars and Earth are closest, which occurs roughly every 26 months, to save fuel and reduce costs.
Since Starship uses most of its fuel to reach orbit, it needs to be refueled in space to make the trip to Mars.
However, experts estimates that each Starship will require at least four refueling flights.
This means SpaceX will have to launch many rockets in a short time and improve the technology for docking and transferring fuel between spacecraft.
